WASHINGTON — Though President-elect Donald Trump is not going to take workplace for nearly two weeks, he’s already making his “America First” mantra a precedence — and it could embrace different elements of the globe.
Trump proposed renaming the Gulf of Mexico and wouldn’t rule out utilizing army pressure in Panama in a meandering information convention that touched on a number of fiery international coverage factors Tuesday.
‘All hell will escape within the Center East’
Trump weighed in on the continuing Israel-Hamas struggle in Gaza, promising to hold out imprecise threats if hostages will not be returned to Israel by Inauguration Day.
“In the event that they’re not again by the point I get into workplace, all hell will escape within the Center East, and it’ll not be good for Hamas, and it’ll not be good, frankly, for anybody,” he mentioned.
Dozens of persons are nonetheless being held hostage in Gaza, 15 months after the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel, when Hamas killed about 1,200 folks and took about 250 others captive. Since then, Israel has blitzed Gaza and the West Financial institution, killing greater than 45,000 Palestinians, in keeping with native well being authorities.
The US has been negotiating with Israel and Hamas, in addition to different regional states, to finish the battle and free the hostages for greater than a 12 months, and has made regular progress however has not concluded a deal. Trump’s particular envoy to the Center East, Steve Witkoff, mentioned on the information convention Tuesday that he was touring to Doha, Qatar’s capital, to proceed negotiations, although Trump’s administration doesn’t take workplace for one more two weeks.
“I believe that we’ve had some actually nice progress, and I’m actually hopeful that by the inaugural we’ll have some good issues to announce on behalf of the president,” Witkoff mentioned. It isn’t clear what precise authority Witkoff has earlier than Trump turns into president.
‘Gulf of America’
As at all times, Trump’s focus rapidly turned to the southern border, the place he mentioned the administration would rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.”
“Which has a wonderful ring,” he mentioned. “That covers loads of territory, the Gulf of America. What a wonderful title. And it’s applicable.”
The Gulf of Mexico covers the whole jap coast of Mexico and stretches from the southernmost tip of Texas to the underside of Florida. Trump reiterated that he deliberate to ascertain tariffs on Mexican items, as a solution to make the southern neighbor pay for permitting medication and immigrants into the US.
Trump’s tariff threats have despatched a chill by means of Mexico’s management as President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took workplace Oct. 1, faces her first potential disaster.
The president has gone out of her solution to attempt to persuade the Trump staff that Mexico is cracking down on fentanyl trafficking and unlawful migration. However she has additionally needed to navigate a fragile balancing act — not offending Trump whereas additionally standing up for Mexico’s sovereignty below the tariff threats, which, if carried out, specialists say, might ship Mexico right into a deep recession and set off retaliatory tariffs by Mexico in opposition to imports of U.S. items.
Mexico is the US’ largest buying and selling accomplice, with back-and-forth commerce exceeding $800 billion yearly.
Sheinbaum introduced a marketing campaign in opposition to home utilization of fentanyl in Mexico in her common morning information convention earlier Tuesday. She reiterated her nation’s efforts to curb manufacturing and distribution of fentanyl destined for U.S. markets.
“We’re combating” the distribution of fentanyl, Sheinbaum informed reporters, citing the current seizure of greater than 500,000 fentanyl capsules — the biggest such takedown in Mexico’s historical past — within the northwestern state of Sinaloa, a hub of fentanyl manufacturing and distribution.
Trump additionally ramped up his rhetorical broadsides in opposition to Mexico, asserting that Mexico “is actually run by the cartels. …. Can’t let that occur. Mexico is admittedly in bother. A number of bother. Very harmful place.”
Mexican authorities have repeatedly denied that cartels management the nation, although safety specialists say that organized crime does maintain sway over huge swaths of Mexican territory. Mexican officers have additionally rejected solutions by Trump and allies of doable U.S. army strikes on cartel strongholds, and pushed again in opposition to the concept — often floated by Trump and supporters — of designating Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations.
President-elect Donald Trump at Tuesday’s information convention.
(Evan Vucci / Related Press)
Trump doesn’t rule out utilizing army in Panama or Greenland
The president-elect took goal on the Panama Canal, a current frequent goal of his. He alleged that the canal is in disrepair and that China ought to foot the invoice to repair it, including that the US is charged extra for utilizing the buying and selling waterway than different international locations.
The U.S. is among the largest customers of the waterway, and costs, whereas decrease than these tied to different canals such because the Suez, have gone up due to the drought afflicting a lot of Central America, exacerbated by human-caused local weather change. Trump has falsely claimed Chinese language troopers are working the canal, though it’s true that China has made infrastructural and financial inroads in Panama and all through the area.
“They’ve overcharged our ships, overcharged our Navy, after which once they want restore cash, they arrive to the US to place it up. We get nothing,” he mentioned. “These days are over.”
He additionally referred to annexing Greenland, an island with about 56,000 residents that could be a territory of Denmark.
“We’d like Greenland for nationwide safety functions,” Trump mentioned. “I’m speaking about defending the free world. You don’t even want binoculars. You look exterior, you could have China ships all over. You might have Russian ships all over. We’re not going to let that occur.”
Greenland’s prime minister rapidly shot down any solutions of a Trump takeover.
“Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen mentioned, in keeping with TV 2.
“As President, I need to categorical exactly that each sq. meter of the Panama Canal and its adjoining space belong to PANAMA, and can proceed to be,” Panama President José Raúl Mulino mentioned in an announcement final month. “The sovereignty and independence of our nation will not be negotiable.”
When a reporter requested Trump on Tuesday whether or not he would decide to not utilizing “army or financial coercion” in Panama or Greenland, Trump’s reply got here swiftly: “No.”
Trump additionally added that negotiating Panama’s upkeep of the canal was one of many failed legacies of the late President Carter, whose funeral Trump is scheduled to attend this week. In actual fact, management of the canal that cuts throughout Panama — lengthy an emblem of U.S. imperialism — was ended on the urging of the U.S. army, which mentioned, lengthy earlier than Carter got here to workplace, that sustaining and working it was not sustainable. Carter’s determination was extensively hailed and earned the U.S. nice political capital all through Latin America.
Pinho and Wilkinson reported from Washington, D.C. McDonnell reported from Mexico Metropolis.
